I Will Find You
by BeneathTheWillowTree
Summary: Jack and Rose survive the Titanic and make it to America, but are separated when Cal gets involved. This is their battle to find each other again.
1. Chapter 1

**Rose's POV:**

"Hello!" I hear a distant voice calling out, "Is anyone alive out there?" As painful as it is to turn, I do so and see a boat coming towards us, a beam of light scanning the water for signs of life.

"Jack," I say, though it comes out as a whisper. "Jack, there's a boat, Jack!" I shake him awake, as he lies next to me on the wooden doorframe we've been floating on for the last few hours. It seems to have lasted for a lifetime.

"Rose?" He says, careful not to tip us off.

"Jack, look!" I say, pointing to the lifeboat. "There's a boat!"

"Quickly, Rose." He croaks, taking my hand. "We have to swim again, okay?"

I squeeze his hand and we topple off the door into the water. It hits me like knifes and the breath is almost sucked out of me, I'm just thankful I have a lifejacket on. "There," Jack manages to say and we swim as fast as we can towards an officer with a whistle around his neck. Jack gets there and blows it, quietly at first, as there's hardly any breath in his lungs, then louder.

"There!" I hear the officer say and the boat turns towards us.

"We made it, Jack." I whisper.

I sit in a crowded room on the Carpathia, holding Jack tightly, both of us covered in blankets. The Carpathia had come to collect the lifeboats and had given us warm drinks and blankets from the passenger's rooms. "We're alive, Rose." Jack says, holding me close.

Just then, an officer comes over to us and squats down in front of us with a clipboard and pen. "May I take your names, please?"

"Jack Dawson." Jack says and the officer looks at me.

"Rose Dawson." I say and the officer nods and walks away.

"Rose?" Jack looks down at me.

"I've been wanting to say that for so long." I say and he kisses the top of my head.

And that's when I hear a voice I hoped I would never have to hear again. "Look! There they are!" It was the voice of Cal Hockley.

"Jack," I whisper, clinging to him. "It's Cal."

He turns around to get a look at him, then whispers back to me. "It's okay. Just stay quiet." I nod.

I bury my face into Jack and watch as Cal walks around the room, taking in the passengers, until finally he sees us. My heart sinks as I approaches, accompanied my two officers from the Carpathia. "There, that's him!" He says walking up and pulling Jack up roughly by the arm. "This is him."

"Let go of him, Cal!" I say, standing up and taking Jack's hand.

"This is him. He was a stowaway on board the Titanic, the captain was planning to arrest him before we went down." Cal glares at him.

"What are you talking about?" I say, as loud as my cracked voice will allow me. "This is nonsense, you can't really believe him, can you?" He asks the officer.

"Take a look at the Titanic passenger list." Cal says to the officers. "There's no Jack Dawson on the list."

"I won that ticket." Jack says, shaking his arm out of Cal's grip. "I was gambling and won the ticket the morning we set off."

"It's true." I add, though it seems to make no difference in Cal's eyes.

"You're a filthy liar." He spits and I notice people have started to leave the dining room. The ship has docked.

I watch in horror as the officers exchange a glance then walk forward and take Jack by the arms. "Alright, we'll see to it he's given the correct punishment."

"Stop!" I yell trying to run to Jack, but find that Cal is holding me back.

Jack is struggling to get free as the officers pull him away from me. "Jack!" I scream. "Jack!"

"Rose!" He shouts back. He's almost at the door. My heart is pounding so fast as I desperately try to fight free from Cal's grip. "Rose, I will find you Rose!" He says, "I promise!"

And with that, he's gone. The only one I have ever truly loved has been taken away from me. I turn to Cal, furious. "I will _never_ marry you." I spit. "I would have rather died out there in the ocean than had to see your face every again."


	2. Chapter 2

**Rose's POV:**

It's been three months. Three long, painful months. I haven't heard anything from Jack. I have no idea where he is or what happened to him after he was taken off the Carpathia when it docked.

I've been forced to live with Cal as I have nowhere else to go. It kills me to live like this, as Cal's prisoner, yet I still refuse to marry him. He's threatened me, he's hit me, but I still refuse. I refuse to marry him because my heart belongs to Jack.

I'm standing in front of the mirror, looking into my own eyes and surveying my face. My eyes have lost their colour, both literally and mentally speaking. They've turned a grey colour and I no longer feel happy. Those few days I spent with Jack were the happiest of my life.

My face is pale and thin – it's been hard to eat lately. I just sit wishing that Jack would burst through the door to whisk me away from this hellish life. Jack once told me that he loved my smile, but that's long gone. I'll save my smile from when I see him, I tell myself, but that day may never come. Silent tears fall down my face and drip onto my knees. "Where are you Jack Dawson?" I whisper, then hear footsteps coming up the stairs. I quickly wipe the tears away and lift up my hairbrush just as the door opens.

"Are you ready, my darling?" He asks and I watch his reflection in the mirror. We're going out to dinner with my mother and Cal's family.

"Almost." I nod, pulling the brush through my knotted hair a few times, before setting the brush down and getting up.

He holds out his arm to me, but I pretend not to see it and walk past him and down the stairs. "Your Jack Dawson is never coming back." He calls after me. "You have to learn to accept that." He grabs my arm just as I reach the bottom step and pulls me round so I'm facing him. "You have to be faithful to me. He's just some filthy, worthless third class rat."

"You're hurting me!" I say, trying to pull my arm away but he holds it tight.

"Tell me what he is, Rose. Tell me." He says, glaring at me.

"He's the only man I've ever loved." I hiss. "I will _never_ love you. _Never._" I say and pull my arm free, the pain piercing me. I walk straight out of the door and almost crash head on into my mother, who's coming up the driveway.

"Rose, dear!" She says. "How are you?" She asks, avoiding eye contact. We've never had quite the same relationship since we reunited off the Carpathia.

"We were just leaving." I say. "Cal's just coming." I say as we begin to walk down the driveway to the car.

"I hear the food is excellent," my mother starts. "I went there once with Jacqueline a while back and she said the salmon was exquisite."

I nod occasionally, yet let my mind drift back to Jack. Please, I beg him, please rescue me. It's breaking my heart not being with you.

I hope against hope he can hear me. Whenever I think about him I well up and have to fight back tears. I would do anything to see him again. Anything.

Every corner we turn I hope I'll bump into Jack and my life will take a turn for the better, but it never does.

As we approach the restaurant, I turn to look through the windows at the fancy dinner tables, sparkling chandeliers and high class people all dressed up with diamonds here, there and everywhere. Jack taught me to appreciate the riches I have, but now not all the riches in the world could make me happy.

And that's when I see it. I squint, trying to make sure it's who I think it is. I wrack my brain for his name. I know him from somewhere. _Where do I know him from?_ Then it hits me. His name is Fabrizio. Jack Dawson's Fabrizio. He's walking in the shadows across the road, his hands in his pocket but I don't doubt it's him.

I take off down the pavement, ignoring the cries from my mother. I call his name over and over as I run across the road, narrowly missing being hit by a car. "Fabrizio!" I say, grabbing him by the shoulder.

He turns around and his face lights up with surprise. "Rose?" He says and my heart leaps.

"Yes, it's me!" I say. "Where's Jack? What happened to him? Where is he?"

Fabrizio looks around and pulls me further into the shadows so I'm hidden from Cal and my mother, who are still searching for me. "Come with me." He says and I do, my heart thumping in my chest.


	3. Chapter 3

**Jack's POV:**

I'm sitting in a small, one bedroom flat, scouring the newspapers for any news on the DeWitt Bukateurs. It's been three months and I promised Rose that I'd find her and that's a promise I intend to keep. Though really, calling this is 'flat' is an understatement.

After I'd spent a few weeks in prison, they had finally let me out into the streets, though I'd had nowhere to go. I'd slept rough for a couple of weeks, before I stumbled across Fabrizio, who I thought had died that terrible night. He was kind enough to take me in and I'm grateful of course, but the living conditions are difficult to say the least.

All I think about is Rose. We survived the Titanic, I thought nothing could separate us. Nothing but Cal, Rose's fiancé who had ruined her life.

Fabrizio keeps telling me to forget about her, that she's probably married to Cal and is pregnant with her first child. As much as I try, I can't. She's the girl who changed my life for the better and winning that ticket was the best thing that had ever happened to me, because it had bought her to me.

The front door creaks open and I hear Fabrizio step through the door, then the familiar sound of his feet scraping against the door mat. Then, another set of feet do that same. That's funny, Fabrizio never brings home anyone, I think. Oh. Then a small smile spreads across my face. I should probably stay out of the way, but honestly, there's nowhere to go.

"Jack?" He calls out and I stand up, picking up my mug of cold tea I'd forgotten I'd made.

"In here." I call back, walking towards the door to greet him.

I turn around the corner and it takes me a while to realise what I'm seeing. It's the sound of my tea mug smashing against the floor and feeling cold tea seep through the holes in my boots that brings me back.

Rose is standing next to Fabrizio in the door way. Rose DeWitt Bukateur. My Rose.

She sees me and bursts into tears and runs towards me. She crashes into me, throwing her arms around my neck. "Jack." She cried. "Oh my god, Jack."

"Rose." I say, hugging her back. I take her face in my hands and kiss her. "I'm sorry, I've been looking for you every single day. I'm so sorry, Rose." I say, realising I'm crying too.

She shakes her head. "Don't be sorry." She says. "But please don't ever let me go back to Cal." She says, as I wipe the tears from her eyes with my thumbs.

"Never." I say. "I'm not letting you go ever again."

My hands squeeze hers and I realise she's trembling. I look down and see purple bruises dotted around her hands. Gently, I roll up one of her sleeves and see the same. "Rose..." I whisper, my fingers carefully running over them. "Did Cal do this to you?" She nods, but says nothing. "Why?"

I'm completely bewildered. Cal was so in love with Rose, he didn't realise that she didn't return his love until I first met her. "He told me he'd stop when I said I loved him and not you." She says. "But I never did. I thought about you every moment of every day, Jack."

"Me too." I say, drawing her close again. "You're not planning to go back, are you?"

"Are you mad?" She says. "Of course not. I want to stay here." She turns to Fabrizio, who I'd completely forgotten was there. "I know it's a lot to ask of you, but it would only be for a few days."

He nods and smiles. "Anything for the love of Jack's life." We laugh. "Come on," he says, leading through to the kitchen, "I'll make dinner. You have a lot to tell us!"

He hurries through to the kitchen and we watch him go. "I love you, Jack." She says. "I knew I'd see you again."

"You jump, I jump, right?" I say with a smile, remembering the night Rose chose me over everything she had. The night she made me feel wanted and cared about. And for that, I am eternally grateful to her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Rose's POV**

Fabrizio offered to sleep in the armchair, but I told him he'd do no such thing. He was kind enough to take me in, the thought that he would have to give up his bed for me too was beyond what I could accept.

Jack's bed is a single bed and it's a squeeze to fit both of us, but we manage alright. I lie next to him, my hand clasped in his. It's quite mild for half way through July, so we lie cuddled up underneath the thin blanket. "I've dreamt about this for so long." I say. "I can't tell you how miserable being stuck in that house with Cal has made me."

Jack nods. "I know. I'm never letting you go back to him."

"Good." I say, "I don't want to."

Jack frowns suddenly. "But what about all you things? Surely you want to go back to get them?"

I hadn't thought of that. "Only a few things," I say. "But not many."

"Tell me about them." He says, weaving his fingers into mine and closing his eyes.

"They're all related to you." I say. "There is nothing I want that is associated with Cal in any way. There are the dresses and jewellery I wore on the Titanic which I've been wearing ever since, with the exception of a few." I say. Everything I want to get back is to do with my time with Jack on the Titanic. They're the only good memories I have. "A few pictures I managed to save in my pocket that you drew for me." I say, remembering all the trouble I had gone through to get them saved, all behind Cal's back. They were smudged and wet, though I'd dried them and had them traced over and framed by a professional and they're still the originals.

Then I remember the last thing I want to get. The journal. "Also, there's my journal."

"What's in there that you want?" He asks.

"They're letters." I say. "Letters I wrote to you when I got back. One every day we were apart. I told you about what went on that day and how much I miss you. It made me feel like I was talking to you." I say and he smiles.

"Rose..." He looks at me for a minute. "I'm looking forward to reading them."

"It really did." I say. "Though I'd had to do it late at night, after Cal had gone to bed." I say. It sounds silly, but it was true. If Cal had ever found out what I had written in there, I don't know what I would have done. The only person that those letters were for were Jack. "If he saw me..." I trail off and I can tell Jack already knows what I mean, especially after seeing the bruises on my arms.

Jack contemplates for a minute, then opens his eyes. "Fabrizio and I will go tomorrow." He says.

"What? No, you can't do that. If Cal sees you, he'll kill you! And he'll know I'm with you and come and find me!" I say, my voice rising.

"Rose, listen to me." Jack soothes me. "I promised you that you would never have to go back to that house and that's a promise I intend to keep. I remember all the dresses you wore on the Titanic. I remember every detail about those days we spent together, so it won't take long for me to find them. I can also pick up the pictures because I can recognise my own drawings, especially of you. And if you tell Fabrizio where your journal is hidden, he can get that."

I frown. "We'll be in and out within minutes." He says. "I promise you, Rose. I just don't want you going back in there."

"I know." I say, "But what if something bad happens to you or Fabrizio?"

He grins at me. "It won't. We'll be able to fight Cal. Especially after what he's done to you, I'm hoping we do bump into him."

I bite my lip, not knowing whether or not this is a good idea. I'd be perfectly happy just to start my life over again with Jack and not go back to that house ever again. I've been more happy this evening than I have in those entire three months I was in that horrible house with Cal. Fabrizio's house feels more like home than Cal's house ever will, that I can guarantee.

"Trust me." Jack says. "You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course I trust you."


End file.
